Category - Colleges and Universities

What sort of work can any academic department achieve when it is fenced into a little box with no room to manoeuvre of its own accord? Jonathan Tuckett, who is doing research in phenomenology at the University of Stirling, asks the question with regard to an appraisal of issues and dilemmas related to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the culture of - often imprecise - measurement and categorisation increasingly imposed upon universities and colleges.

The breadth and quality of education universities once offered is now being seriously eroded by underfunding, says Dr Andrew W. Hass from the University of Stirling. But funding is not where the deeper crisis lies, he suggests. Cutbacks are just the symptom of a greater underlying problem. The real problem is an identity crisis. What is 'the university' for?

The Comprehensive Spending Review is expected to be bad news for universities and especially bad news for those who teach in the humanities, says theologian and ethicist Graeme Smith. Action is needed. But are strikes really the most effective response to damaging cuts?

Universities with Church of England foundations have been told to emphasise their Christian credentials to make it easier to dismiss staff who don’t share those values, reports The Times Higher Education Supplement.